TiPb Asks: What do you want in iOS 5.1?

If you're anything like me, now that you've had iOS 5 to play around with for a while, you're probably already starting to wonder what Apple might have in store for us for iOS 5.1? I'm not talking about an iOS 5.0.1 bug fix update, mind you, but about a 5.1 minor feature enhancement. You know, the kind of iOS x.1 we used to get with the new iPod touch in September back when the iPhone came out in June with iOS x.0.

This year iOS 5 only came out in October so I don't expect iOS 5.1 until January (iPad 3 feels like an iOS 5.2 update.) We haven't even gotten a beta yet, so it won't be any time soon at least. But when it does come, what do you want to see in it?

So... Genius for iBooks it is? I hope that's not all. I hope we get the ability to delete individual pictures from Photo Stream and to disable the fast camera access bypass. Siri getting the ability to launch apps would be sweet as well, as would giving Siri the ability to read more than just SMS/iMessages. Speaking of which, being able to tell iMessage not to send if it's going to fall back on SMS would be nice when chatting with people in other countries. And I'd still like them to stop kicking us out of the App Store every time we make a purchase...

But we need to be realistic -- we won't get huge things like BiteSMS-style interactive notifications, a Theme Store, or anything else in a x.1 update, but we'll hopefully get just a few more rough edges shaved off.

Senior Editor at iMore and a practicing therapist specializing in stress and anxiety. She speaks everywhere from conferences to corporations, co-host of Vector, Review, and Isometric podcasts, and should be followed on Twitter @Georgia_Dow.

For me also things that have been mentioned before here plus some other:
-notification center in lock screen
-set number of agenda days ahead to be displayed in nc
-wifi / bluetooth switch button in lock screen / nc
-change name of applications
-update notifications in background, eg if i read facebook message on pc i want the notification to go away on iphone / ipad etc
-notifications in status bar
-contact pictures in contacts app
-profiles (eg. calls only, silent, medium, loud etc)
-set notification sounds of 3rd party apps (or have them just vibrate, independent of sounds for mail / messages / calls)
-quick settings for brightness on iphone (like for ipad)
-sync notes with exchange
Ok that's a whole lot .. but it would make iPhone near perfect for me. Add a notification LED to iPhone 5 and voila .. perfection :P

I would like notifications to work correctly. I have notifications completely turned off in apps that still deliver banner notifications.
I'd also like to be able to print. An Airprint workaround that previously worked with iOS 4 does not work with iOS 5. Why would Apple defeat this workaround except to be mean? Or maybe HP kicks back to them for the few printers that currently work with Airprint.

I'm hoping being able to delete some photo stream pics. When I how off how fast the 4S camera is I don't need 10-20 photos of rapid blurred photos on the stream haha.
I had no idea who wrote this article until I saw the part about being kicked out of the app store after each purchase and I knew it must've be Georgia. I hate that too!

Don't have the screen light up when you get a text...and dont have the phone beep when you get a text while on a call. Reduce banner time for notification - they hang forever. While were at it. Can we chose if the banner was at the top or bottom?

Card multitasking. Android, Palm, and MS got it. Your "advanced approach to multitasking" works OK-ish, but the implementation is crap.
I can't stand holding the app icon then trying to hit that tiny (-)!
Bezel swipe support (like the NC) for the switcher would be nice.
/rant.
Anyway, i think third-party widgets (non-JB) will be nice.
Ability to delete from Photo Library. (not camera roll)

Card multitasking. Android, Palm, and MS got it. Your "advanced approach to multitasking" works OK-ish, but the implementation is crap.
I can't stand holding the app icon then trying to hit that tiny (-)!
Bezel swipe support (like the NC) for the switcher would be nice.
/rant.
Anyway, i think third-party widgets (non-JB) will be nice.
Ability to delete from Photo Library. (not camera roll)

AGREE with 1. & 2.
My #3 is a bug fix for my 3GS. It crashes now and then and runs a little slowly. I like iOS5 very much except for what I had already stated.
A reply to another comment: There's no way SIRI can run on a 3GS. Just not enough processing power. That's ok. I'll up grade to a 4S when possible.

I would like the deleting pic from photo stream as well in addition to better photo albums where photos will only store in the album and not in camera roll as well as password protected albums. I would also like the ability to clear out notifications from the lock screen w/o always have to unlock my phone. I also would like to have the date on the top bar (where the network and battery icons are) like it is when jailbroken. I never knew how much I would miss that. As well as maybe doing live weather, clock, and calender app icons (wishful thinking-i know).
Anyone know where Apple does get their ideas/project request for doing system updates and bug fixes? Any chance they frequent the site and will see our request!?!?

iOS5 already does this if you have the notification set to Lockscreen. It turns on the screen with every notification that comes in that's set to Lockscreen On in it's settings. Is this what you're talking about?

The ability to move pictures from the camera roll to user specified folders without them being duplicated across folders.
The ability to delete the camera roll picture and keep the copied picture in another folder.

We were told that IOS 5 would be independence from the computer. However, if we want to create custom repeats for appointments, we still have to use our computer to do it. I would like the calendar app to have the option to create custom repeats.

I would like to have some additional Siri features. For example, I would like to be able to say "Siri, turn my Wi-Fi off" when I don't want wi-fi to drain my battery, and then say "Siri, turn on my Wi-Fi" for when I want to quickly turn it back on again. Same could go with many other features, like location services, etc.
I would also like to use Siri to better create notes or shopping lists. I would love to be able to say "Siri, add some extra small condoms to my shopping list", and have her add it to the list she helped me create previously. Or at least be able to interact with notes or reminders in an more involved and intuitive way.
I want to be able to have Siri interact with certain apps, like the camera for example. I could say, "Take a picture every 10 seconds for 10 minutes". Or "Siri, once the camera is stable, wait for 10 seconds and snap a picture".
Any of this should definitely be doable.

3G Facetime!!
Also Facebook Integration like Twitter
widgets/settings in notifications.
Only thing is I am expecting none of this till iOS 6 which will be beta testing in March for June release of iPhone (LTE)

imessage online offline status. so we could know if the one we are talking to is online since imessage needs to connect to internet. imessage is some king of useless if online offline will not be placed.

1) All notifications on/off in one switch, like in 4.x.
2) iMessage work by user, not by device. People should not have to send to Dev's phone to hit my phone or Dev's email to get my iPad...they should just send to Dev, and it should get to both places. (Bonus points if the conversations can be archived/viewable from both places, a la Google Voice)

1) Let me delete the 50 crappy pictures for every one good one that goes into my photostream.
2) Let me turn on Bluetooth without drilling down several layers like I'm on a Windows Mobile 5.0 device.
3) Let me have Siri do much more. Play Booty City on Slacker Radio...Send Whatsapp to Jan...Open _____ App...

I want something simple: for Pages to export to dropbox. iCloud docs is great for iOS, but a pain to manage with my macbook. I hope someone at Apple will get over Jobs being peeved that dropbox wouldn't be bought out.

The various "stores" are getting long in the tooth. They need to be consolidated into one app although it is okay for multiple apps to access the stores. For example, there is one app to access the App Store. Then there is another app to access iTunes Music/Movies. Then there is the iBook app to access the Bookstore. All of these stores need to be consolidated into one.

A more cleaner interface and simpler one for making the right settings so that "Find iPhone" feature cannot be turned off without a password. Right now, there are multiple settings one has to turn off and in various panels in the Settings app to do that. That's very confusing. If you set the wrong settings, someone who steals your iOS device can very quickly disable the Find iPhone feature or remove accounts and thus you can no longer find your iOS device remotely.

iPad should come with a non-removable Weather app, Clock app. All iOS devices that can use Find iPhone app should come with a non-removable Find iPhone app.

iPad should have the ability to display weather and stock ticker in the notification banner.

Notification banner should be open to allowing different apps post statuses like the Weather and Stock app does.

Folder icons need to be redesigned, though I'm not sure how. Right now, folder icons look ugly and confusing.

Going to the App Store to update apps results always in the program quitting in order to show where on the main screen the apps are updating. This is annoying when there are multiple items I want to update but not all at once, or I want to continue browsing the app store while an update is happening.

Each item in the notification centre should be deletable. Right now, the ability is to only delete a set of notifications from an app instead of individual notifications. Sometimes I like to keep a notification "alive" as a way to remind me when I check again.

How come the Reminder app is a separate app but when we logon to iCloud.com, the Reminder features is under calendar? This is very confusing. Apple needs to pick one or the other. If they want reminders to be part of the calendar, then on the iOS, the Reminder should NOT be a separate app and should be part of the Calendar app. If they want the Reminder app to be separate from Calendar app, then on iCloud.com Reminders should have its own icon separate from Calendar icon.

These are just a few but if I were employed by Apple, I'd have a lot more to critique. Maybe they should hire me as a QA person ;-)

I would want the Alerts from the Calender to automatically go to the Reminders list. Probably a big wish and I'm sure it'll never happen. Always seems that what some of the best ideas never make it to the phone. Oh, and the ability to make the notifications screen be the screen that the phone opens to. And a button on the home screen for Bluetooth on/off. Siri on a iPhone 4, and a close all open apps button. I could go on and on....

I'd like to see the ability to see a 'delete all' function added for SMS/iMessages. Kind of pitiful that "the most advanced iPhone yet" can't do this but all the "crappy" Androids/Blackberries/Dumbphones can.

Unnecessary need for outside connection for internal command. Come on. Sending text message should be blindly fast using Siri and should NOT rely on connecting to Siri server
Please separate function that needs Siri server vs those it should come straight from iPhone itself

Want the ability to disconnect a Facetime session and return to voice call only. It's nice that you can switch to Facetime from a phone call, but it would be better if you could then switch back when you were done with the video without having to hand up and call back.

"being able to tell iMessage not to send if it’s going to fall back on SMS would be nice when chatting with people in other countries"
It already does this. Go to settings, messages and toggle send sms to off. This will disable the fallback to SMS and ONLY allow messages to be sent with imessage.

Simple. Ditch the cheap dictionary in iBooks for a the full Oxford english unabridged version...or at least let us buy and replace the existing version with a dictionary of our choice. Love what we have, but it should and could be so much better.

I had an iPhone 4 for a week last spring and sold it and returned to Android. I'd like to have a keyboard with haptic feedback and capital/small letters in the skin. This would be enough to tip my preferences over to getting an iPhone.

Our wishes:
1. PhotoStream photo deletion - The ability to delete pictures from the Photo Stream just like you delete them from your Camera Roll
2. Better Music app for iPad - ... or get me back my old iPod app. iPad's new version of Music is a complete FAIL!
3. (not in iOS really...) Better integration between iWorks on my Mac with iClouds - Come on, guys! This drag and drop method is the fastest way to get MAYHEM with documents. Which is the correct version? Did I edit my document on my Mac and forgot to upload it?! HELP!!!!!

How about access to URL shortening as part of Twitter integration.
How about a long-overdue upgrade to the RSS syncing/reader system. The built-in RSS reader in mobile Safari is shameful for a company like Apple.
How about iTunes in the Cloud for movies.
How about more location awareness beyond "work" and "home" for Geo-fences in Reminders.

How about access to URL shortening as part of Twitter integration.
How about a long-overdue upgrade to the RSS syncing/reader system. The built-in RSS reader in mobile Safari is shameful for a company like Apple.
How about iTunes in the Cloud for movies.
How about more location awareness beyond "work" and "home" for Geo-fences in Reminders.

How about access to URL shortening as part of Twitter integration.
How about a long-overdue upgrade to the RSS syncing/reader system. The built-in RSS reader in mobile Safari is shameful for a company like Apple.
How about iTunes in the Cloud for movies.
How about more location awareness beyond "work" and "home" for Geo-fences in Reminders.

Siri for the new iPhone is awesome. The voice commands are everything I needed. Except there was no voice commands for the camera. Fortunately, I found an app in the appstore called Voice Camera Pro (I highly recommend this app) and now my phone is voice recognition complete.

Add keyboard key for email address......
Dead simple- just add something to keyboard shortcuts.
Example use something you wouldn't normally type like "zv" and add you email address as the alternative
Then when typing, just type zv and you email address will autocomplete

I want a brightness slider in the multitasking tray - all devices have hardware volume buttons so the iPhone and iPod do not need a volume slider- it's a pet peeve of mine that apple put that there when it's useless . GIVE US A CHOICE APPLE. WE WANT A BRIGHTNESS SLIDER!!

1) Restore singular apps from iCloud backup (so I can e.g. delete a big game when I need space and then restore that app only when I want to play it again)
2) Brightness adjust instead of volume in app switcher (there are physical volume buttons!)
3) Future calendar events in lockscreen

I mean I would love for my groups/categories along with their color codes to import. It can be partially done via iCloud but it messes with the contacts on Outlook too much. This is my biggest wish as my BlackBerry was able to do this along with being able to assign a ringtone to a group of people instead of one person at a time.

One of the things I would really like to see in iOS 5.1 (or any iteration of it going forward) is sound/notification profiles that can automatically go into effect at certain times of the day. I don't want my iPhone to make any sounds or vibrate while I am sleeping, but I want it to be able to make sounds and vibrate during the day.
Right now, I have to switch it to silent before I go to bed and go into the sounds setting page to switch the vibrate mode when silent to off. Then, when I get up, I have to reverse the process. It would be great if I could setup a profile that says something like between 10 PM and 6 AM, do not make any sounds (except for the alarm and phone calls) and do not vibrate. And then, from 6 AM to 10 PM allow all sounds and vibrations.
Oh, and if I could do it all with Siri, that would would be a definite +1

I'd like to see the Reminder and Calendar app have badges that display when you don't open an alarm. Many times, I'm on the phone or in a meeting and don't open every alarm that goes off on my phone. A badge on the app indicating a missed alarm/event/reminder would be nice. There are numerous 3rd party apps that have had this feature for a while ... no reason Apple can't add it. Why would they indicate an option for Badge App Icon in the Notification Center and not provide the capability to do so.

1) Show subfolder emails in "All Inboxes." Right now only emails in root inboxes show up, even though subfolders emails are in the Notification Center.
2) Revert back to the iOS 4 Music app on the iPad. The new Music app is horrible.

1) A completely redesigned OS. Yes, the iPhone is the greatest and most reliable phone ever, but come on Apple, change the screen layout already. I've been looking at the same icons for the past 5 years. Custom layouts, animated wallpaper, animated weather, (home screen and lock screen) SOMETHING DIFFERENT! (We all jailbreak our phones now anyway because we want to fully customize our phones the way we want to, ESPECIALLY when we spend the amount of money we do to purchase them. FREEDOMMMMMM!!!!!!!
2) I hate the fact that every time i download an app from the app store, i get kicked out of the store so the phone can show me where it puts the app. Just make it that when we download an app, there is a status bar inside the app store to show the progress of the download, this way we can still remain in the app store, browse and download more apps at the same time.
3) Landscape home screen & Lockscreen like the iPad.

1) A completely redesigned OS. Yes, the iPhone is the greatest and most reliable phone ever, but come on Apple, change the screen layout already. I've been looking at the same icons for the past 5 years. Custom layouts, animated wallpaper, animated weather, (home screen and lock screen) SOMETHING DIFFERENT! (We all jailbreak our phones now anyway because we want to fully customize our phones the way we want to, ESPECIALLY when we spend the amount of money we do to purchase them. FREEDOMMMMMM!!!!!!!
2) I hate the fact that every time i download an app from the app store, i get kicked out of the store so the phone can show me where it puts the app. Just make it that when we download an app, there is a status bar inside the app store to show the progress of the download, this way we can still remain in the app store, browse and download more apps at the same time.
3) Landscape home screen & Lockscreen like the iPad.

1) A completely redesigned OS. Yes, the iPhone is the greatest and most reliable phone ever, but come on Apple, change the screen layout already. I've been looking at the same icons for the past 5 years. Custom layouts, animated wallpaper, animated weather, (home screen and lock screen) SOMETHING DIFFERENT! (We all jailbreak our phones now anyway because we want to fully customize our phones the way we want to, ESPECIALLY when we spend the amount of money we do to purchase them. FREEDOMMMMMM!!!!!!!
2) I hate the fact that every time i download an app from the app store, i get kicked out of the store so the phone can show me where it puts the app. Just make it that when we download an app, there is a status bar inside the app store to show the progress of the download, this way we can still remain in the app store, browse and download more apps at the same time.
3) Landscape home screen & Lockscreen like the iPad.

Okay. This is not good. 3GS running ios5. Many crashes which result in a reboot. Apps crash and then the phone shuts off!
How many other 3GS owners are having similar problems? Yes. I did a restore.
Thnx

I want a lot , and am real pissed that they took some thing away , the ability to turn off the 2 beeps when you get a text what the hell is that all about? i hate it when I get a text and the thing beeps and I don't check it for a sec and the damn thing beeps one more, I feel like throwing the thing across the room, i know its small but I really don't like the 2 beeps. so on to what i want in ios 5.0.1 if nothing more than that was fixed I would be pleased. and would be nice if we could delete a photo out of photo stream ,add wifi, brightness, and blue tooth in the notification bar. siri needs to be able to open apps turn on and off wifi you know small things like that.

you can turn off the second "beep" for a text message. in notifications, messages, repeat alert - make sure that is set to never. it gives the option of never, once, twice, etc... is that what your talking about? if its not set to never, it will beep every 2 min, up to however many times you have it set for. hope this helps.